Friday, August 11, 2017

1794 Flowing Hair Dollar Sells for $2.8 Million

Incredible Lord St. Oswald-Norweb 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar Sells for $2.8 Million in the Stack’s Bowers Galleries August 2017 ANA World’s Fair of Money Auction. The coin was last sold at public auction in November 1988 in Bowers and Merena’s auction of the Norweb Collection.

This specimen has a fascinating but familiar story, following the sale just two years ago of its sibling, the MS-66+ (PCGS) Lord St. Oswald-Ostheimer 1794 dollar, in the Stack's Bowers Galleries D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II sale. In that September 2015 auction, the Pogue counterpart realized $4,993,750.

These two 1794 silver dollars had been obtained by English gentleman farmer William Strickland on his tour of the young United States from September 20, 1794 to July 29, 1795. During his visit, Strickland journeyed throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic, even meeting with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and with then-President George Washington at Mount Vernon. The two coins were among a diverse group of 84 federal and pre-federal coins gathered during his 10 months in America and they remained together for the first 170 years of their existence, until they were offered as part of the Lord St. Oswald cabinet by Christie's in 1964.

Certified MS-64 (PCGS) and approved by Certified Acceptance Corporation, this near-Gem is one of the finest known examples of the 1,758 silver dollars struck bearing this inaugural date. Fewer than 150 examples are thought to remain. The stunning example offered is fourth finest in the Condition Census and third finest among all Mint State 1794 Flowing Hair dollars seen by PCGS.

Over the years, Stack's Bowers Galleries has forged a legacy of handling the very finest 1794 dollars extant, including having sold every known Mint State example at least once over the past three decades. The Specimen-66 (PCGS) Carter-Cardinal-Morelan 1794 silver dollar, sold by the firm in January 2013, set the record for the highest auction price realized for any coin at over $10 million.

For more information about the firm’s upcoming auctions, visit www.StacksBowers.com or call 1-800-458-4646 for more details.